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Silent Moves by Aideen Barry and the artists of Western Care’s Ridgepool Training Centre, Scannán Technologies and presented by Ballina Arts Centre has been awarded a touring award from Ignite.

Silent Moves will tour to; Town Hall Theatre, Galway, Triskel Arts Centre, Cork (as part of Cork Film Festival) and the Irish Film Institute, Dublin in autumn of this year.

Inspired by the classic black and white silent films of Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin and Harold Lloyd, Silent Moves is a 28 minute silent film, with a strong emphasis on movement and mime. Using stop-motion animation techniques and slapstick motifs, the film has a unique aesthetic and is accompanied by an inspired live soundtrack.

Visual artist Aideen Barry collaborated with a group of twenty three artists with disabilities from two Western Care projects based in Ballina – the Ridgepool Training Centre and Scannán Technologies. Working alongside Aideen was renowned Dancer and Choreographer, Emma O’Kane. Shot on location in Ballina, the film carries a strong message about attitudes towards disability while being funny, moving and beautiful to watch. The film was launched last November at Ballina Arts Centre in front of a huge audience, and was shown a number of times during February of this year.

Screenings of the film on the tour will be accompanied by musicians performing the soundtrack on piano, violin, viola and percussion. In each location there will be two screenings: a matinee targeted at schools and community groups and an evening show open to the general public.

As an integral part of the tour, in each location a ‘Meet the Makers’ style session will be hosted, featuring some of the participating artists from the project, alongside representatives from Ballina Arts Centre and Mayo County Council Arts office introduce the screening and talk about their Ignite experiences.

Sean Walsh, Director of Ballina Arts Centre, said: “We were absolutely delighted when we got word that the funding application was successful. The film is a magical piece of work, and it certainly deserves to be seen around the country. I’m thrilled for the makers of the film, and the way the tour is set up, they will have a chance to go with the film and present their work to audiences across the country.”

Silent Moves was commissioned by Mayo County Council as part of Ignite.

Ignite is managed by a unique partnership involving the Arts Council, Arts & Disability Ireland (ADI), Cork City Council, Galway City and County Councils, and Mayo County Council.

Ignite is a new platform designed to generate Ireland’s most ambitious showcasing of talent from people with disabilities, led by international and Irish artists and performers with disabilities, with projects taking place in 2014 and 2015 in Cork, Galway and Mayo. These commissions each represented an investment of up to €60,000. This Silent Moves tour will mark the conclusion of this initiative in November 2015.

A Film by Aideen Barry, Western Care’s Ridgepool Training Centre and Scannán Technologies

Silent Moves (with Audio Description)

‘Art is one of the greatest tools we have as humans to convey our unhappiness, our grief and our feelings of injustice, loneliness and unfairness. It can also be our greatest tool. It can, in a Brechtian way, be a sledge hammer that can shape the very world in which we live. As an artist I am aware of the power of such tools and of their responsibilities. As an artists, living with an anxiety disorder, my artwork is fuelled by nervousness, and by a life lived “on tenterhooks”. It is a fraught existence of blessings and curses. The latter, a paralysing experience of depression, obsession and compulsion, but the former, fed by the latter, enables me to make compelling artworks, that hopefully go to the very core of what is the human condition.

When working on a project such as Silent Moves, I was keenly aware of the idea of living day-to-day with frustration. Not just for myself, but for my collaborating artists of Scannán Technologies and The Ridgepool Centre. As human beings, life can be a challenge for any one of us, but those of us living with a disability face the added stress of living in a world that is not entirely equal.’

Aideen Barry, lead artist.

‘Art at its most powerful had the opportunity to make things public, and Silent Moves brings to bear subjects that are troubling in their simplicity. What does it mean not to have the choice to love and have intimacy in ones life? What does it mean to have the choice to make the wrong decision, in the case of Silent Moves, the choice to fall in love with the wrong man.’

Irish visual artist Aideen Barry and Ballina-based disability organisations are working together to produce a stop motion animation film ‘Silent Moves’ inspired by the silent movies of the 1930s, melding together mime, music and movement with the latest animation techniques.

Their project is one of three “Ignite” commissions which represent the largest ever investment in Ireland’s arts and disability sector. The resulting film will be launched in the Ballina Arts Centre on November 28th.

Aideen, known for her performance, film, sculpture, drawing, and installation work, has worked with artists from the Western Care Ridgepool Training Centre and members of the Scannán Technologies group, along with dance artist and choreographer Emma O’Kane.

New technologies, including new green screen and advanced animation techniques, are being used to create the film, which is inspired by the silent movies of the 1930s, the era of Buster Keaton, Clara Bow and Charlie Chaplin.

The art work will be launched in Ballina Arts Centre on 28th November, 2014 at 8pm and will have a longer showing in the gallery space in 2015. The commission will also produce a high-quality accessible publication to accompany the art work.

Aideen says of the project, “Without the use of words or sounds, silent movies make us splutter with laughter, break our hearts, win them over again, and take use through a world of chaos to a moment of pure charm, without once uttering a word.

“The world IS silent for all of us. For we process each of our everyday experiences, our heartbreaks, our joys ultimately on our own, in our own silent world, in our minds.

“Our silent moving image works take as starting points what it is to be a person, what it feels to be in love, what it feels to be bashful, what it feels to be hurt and together through movement and gesture we have tried to encapsulate our experiences in front of the camera.”

Sean Walsh, Director of Ballina Arts Centre, says, “We’re absolutely delighted about the Ignite Mayo commission. For the past six years, Ballina Arts Centre has made a deliberate effort to push the agenda of disability arts. We are delighted to be working with Aideen Barry and Emma O’Kane on, what I feel, is a beautiful idea. Film, as an art form, offers huge potential. We’ve worked with the Ridgepool Training Centre and the Scannán Technologies groups for a good number of years now, and have completed very successful, ambitious projects with them both. This is the culmination of all that work and we’re all really looking forward to seeing the finished artwork.”

Silent Moves is commissioned by Mayo County Council Arts Office as part of Ignite and facilitated by the Ballina Arts Centre.

Ignite, a unique and innovative approach to commissioning and touring ambitious new work by artists with disabilities, is an initiative of The Arts Council, Arts & Disability Ireland (ADI), Galway City Council and Galway County Council, Cork City Council and Mayo County Council.

Irish visual artist Aideen Barry and Ballina-based disability organisations are working together to produce a stop motion animation film ‘Silent Moves’ inspired by the silent movies of the 1930s, melding together mime, music and movement with the latest animation techniques.

Their project is one of three “Ignite” commissions which represent the largest ever investment in Ireland’s arts and disability sector. The resulting film will be launched in the Ballina Arts Centre this autumn.

Work is well underway, with Aideen, known for her performance, film, sculpture, drawing, and installation work, working artists from the Western Care Ridgepool Training Centre and members of the Scannán Technologies group, along with dance artist and choreographer Emma O’Kane.

New technologies, including new green screen and advanced animation techniques, are being used to create the film, which is inspired by the silent movies of the 1930s, the era of Buster Keaton, Clara Bow and Charlie Chaplin.

The art work will be launched in Ballina Arts Centre on 28th November, 2014 at 8pm and will have a longer showing in the gallery space in 2015. The commission will also produce a high-quality accessible publication to accompany the art work.

Aideen says of the project, “Without the use of words or sounds, silent movies make us splutter with laughter, break our hearts, win them over again, and take use through a world of chaos to a moment of pure charm, without once uttering a word.

“The world IS silent for all of us. For we process each of our everyday experiences, our heartbreaks, our joys ultimately on our own, in our own silent world, in our minds.

“Our silent moving image works take as starting points what it is to be a person, what it feels to be in love, what it feels to be bashful, what it feels to be hurt and together through movement and gesture we have tried to encapsulate our experiences in front of the camera.”

Sean Walsh, Director of Ballina Arts Centre, says, “We’re absolutely delighted about the IGNITE! Mayo commission. For the past six years, Ballina Arts Centre has made a deliberate effort to push the agenda of disability arts. We are delighted to be working with Aideen Barry and Emma O’Kane on, what I feel, is a beautiful idea. Film, as an art form, offers huge potential. We’ve worked with the Ridgepool Training Centre and the Scannán Technologies groups for a good number of years now, and have completed very successful, ambitious projects with them both. This is the culmination of all that work and we’re all really looking forward to seeing the finished artwork.”

Silent Moves is commissioned by Mayo County Council Arts Office as part of Ignite and facilitated by the Ballina Arts Centre.

Aideen and the artists from Scannan Technologies and Ridgepool Western Care have been having great fun out on location shooting footage for Ignite Mayo Commission. Playing with slapstick and what it feels like to be in love or be bashful, the actors have been creating some gorgeous material. Filming continues until the end of July when everyone will take a well earned break for the month of August.

Irish visual artist Aideen Barry is working with artists from the Western Care Ridgepool Training Centre and Scannán Technologies group. Working with choreographer and dancer, Emma O’Kane, Aideen and the group are busy creating a short film using new green screen and animation techniques, inspired by the silent movies of the 1930’s.

“It’s a dream come true. I always wanted to be an actor”. (Ignite project participant)

“I’m very proud to be taking part in the film”. ( Ignite project participant)